Mental health was once treated primarily as a private or clinical matter. Increasingly, governments and employers are recognising it as a wider economic issue.
Conditions such as anxiety, depression and burnout can affect productivity, absenteeism and long-term participation in the labour market. They also place pressure on healthcare and social support systems.
Organisations including the World Health Organization have highlighted the economic costs associated with poor mental wellbeing.
Modern working life can intensify these pressures. Constant connectivity, job insecurity and blurred boundaries between work and personal time are frequently cited as contributing factors.
In response, some employers are investing in wellbeing programmes, flexible schedules and psychological support services.
However, critics warn that workplace initiatives alone cannot solve deeper structural causes such as housing stress, inequality or overwork.
Experts say the significance of mental health lies partly in this shift: it is no longer seen only as an individual problem, but as something that influences economic resilience and social stability.
The future of health policy may therefore depend as much on prevention and living conditions as on treatment.
